Don't have time to meditate? Doing this for 20 seconds a day can reduce stress

A simple, 20 second gesture can do the world of good.Source:BodyAndSoul

Between nailing your job, hitting deadlines, keeping up with family, catching up with friends, hitting the gym, finishing that workout, trying to keep on top of an endless cycle of life admin whilst buying and cooking healthy meals and looking like you’re just about managing with it all, it’s not at all surprising that people have begun to refer to us as the ‘burnout generation’.

Listening to our bodies – and minds – has never been more important, and the words wellness, self-care and ‘down time’ are becoming ever more prevalent.

Meditation is a tried and tested, recommended route to finding some peace and stillness in your day and help alleviate stress and avoid complete and utter burnout. But what if you don’t have the time to get ‘in the zone’ as much as you should?

According to a new book, Burnout: The Secret to Solving the Stress Cycle by identical twins Emily and Amelia Nagoski, a simple 20 second gesture every day can do wonders for reducing your stress levels - hugging someone.

“A 20-second hug can teach your body that you are safe” the sisters told The Times.

Hugging for just 20 seconds a day could help to reduce stress and avoid burnout.Source:BodyAndSoul

They believe that hugging disrupts our “stress cycle”, taking us out of “full action mode” and providing a moment of pause and calm which can ease stress and help avoid burnout.

The science behind this simple, stress-busting gesture is that a purposeful, extended hug actually help to release the bonding hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin is proven to lower blood pressure, slow your heart rate, benefit our immune system and have an overall positive effect on mood.

“Feeling threatened and stressed can tune our immune system to act more aggressively than necessary for longer periods of time than are necessary,” said Michael Murphy, Ph.D., post-doctoral research associate at the Laboratory for the Study of Stress, Immunity, and Disease in the Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University in an interview with NBC on the benefits of hugging.

“An over-aggressive immune system can lead to damage to bodily systems, increasing our risk for a variety of illnesses. However, to the extent that hugs make us feel safer and more cared for, they can buffer against experiences that might otherwise threaten us, protecting us from mounting an over-aggressive immune response.”

20 seconds of hugging a day to help fight burnout and reduce stress? It’s definitely something we’ll be squeezing into our schedules stat.

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